France, Germany look to revive peace talks with Russia over Ukraine

France and Germany on Wednesday discussed ways of restarting peace talks with Russia over its recent military buildup near the Ukraine border.

As Reuters reported, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said that he met with newly elected German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of a European Union summit in Brussels to discuss ways of reviving negotiations with Russia.

“The three leaders reaffirmed their commitment to this format of negotiations in order to find a lasting solution for the conflict and to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Macron’s office said.

The international community has called for Russia to defuse the situation and pursue diplomacy. 

According to Reuters, Zelensky said he is prepared to speak with Moscow but called for Western countries to impose strong sanctions now in order to prevent further escalation. The Ukrainian president said that waiting until after Russia has made the situation worse to impose sanctions would be too late.

“We were able to explain to our European colleagues that the sanctions policy after [escalation] no longer interests anyone — our state is interested in a powerful sanctions policy before a possible escalation, and then there may not be a possible escalation,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU has a wide array of sanctions prepared if Russian forces cross the Ukrainian border and warned that “unprecedented measures with serious consequences” could be employed.